May 13th Election Campaign

Day five of the election campaign and two of the three political leaders held events in the GTA.

New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath held a single event today in east Toronto. Speaking to a crowd of supporters she praised women and the role they play in our community and in her own party.

“For the first time ever in the province of Ontario, we have a political party with a slate of candidates equals 56 percent women.”

When asked if she would join forces with the Liberals to form a coalition should the Progressive Conservative’s win a majority in the upcoming election, Horwath refused to commit.

“We’re going to wait until June 7th before we make any decisions that we might have to deal with. I’m not going to work with a party that wants to roll back corporate taxes, or that wants to make life harder for everyday families.

An early start for Ontario Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne who joined fellow runners in the sporting life 10k. Following the race Wynne spent time today with her partner Jane and her children before heading to an event in north Toronto where she helped plant flowers before making an announcement about child care for struggling moms.

“We are making a commitment to put free preschool child care in place as of 2020 so that everyone can have access to free childcare.”

Wynne says her plan will focus on toddlers aged 2 and a half to 4 years old.

“That’s $17 thousand per child that families will be able to have to do other things with and afford child care.”

Wynne said with less than a month before voters hit the polls, it’s too early to make a decision about teaming up with the NDP.

“All I know is we’re on day five and we’re going to keep working as hard as we can in every riding across this province to bring that plan forward and connect with people across Ontario.”

Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford took the day off campaigning today but tweeted out these photos of his mother and his wife and daughters saying in part: happy mothers day to all the mom’s who do so much for us day in an day out.

The comments from both Horwath and Wynne come after the NDP party shows they are gaining in the polls with some speculating Horwath will be the top contender to PC leader Doug Ford, who is currently leading. The latest poll now suggesting Wynne is lagging but she brushed off those questions today saying there is still plenty of time between now and election day.

Ford will be back on the campaign trail tomorrow with events scheduled in the Niagara Region.